The Growth of Japan: The Italy Brothers
by KaoruTheRandomBookworm
Summary: This is a parody to the Lion King one and a half Or Lion King 3 if you are outside the US For the story to make sense, you may want to read The Growth of Japan The Lion King . There is also The Growth of America: Japan's Student Lion King 2 Enjoy!
1. Discovering Fanfiction

Romano had woken up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. He was slightly relieved when he opened his eyes to see that Veneziano was sleeping in his own bed for the first time since they ran off together. On the way back to his room, he heard small giggles coming from behind Veneziano's door. He was slightly annoyed that Ven was awake and knew that if he didn't go shut him up he would hear his brother through the wall and never get back to sleep. For a few seconds wondered what horrors he might find on the other side. Deciding it was probably safe, Romano pushed open the door to Veneziano's room as his northern half laughed loudly. His brother was sitting in front of a computer, reading what was on the screen intensely. He seemed lost in land of the interwebs.

"What are you doing?" Romano asked from the doorway. "Unlike you, a few of us are trying to get some sleep." He walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open. "Look!" he pointed. "It's dark out! You're causing a disturbance." When the southern nation didn't get a response he walked over and smacked his brother on the side of his head. "Ven! Are you listening to me?"

Veneziano glanced up. For a few seconds he looked slightly confused, but eventually remembered where he was and smiled widely. "Oh! Hey Romano! Where did you come from?"

Romano curled his hands into fist and clenched his jaw. "South Italy," he hissed as an answer. "Now. What. Are. You. Doing?"

"I found this! Look! It's a story about us! And Japan! And China! And all the others! You have to come read it! I'm only on the first chapter, but I can tell it's going to be a great story!"

Romano bent over and read the chapter over his brother's shoulder. _How does a citizen know what goes on in the presentation ceremonies? _he thought to himself.

"Tell me when you want me to change chapters, Romano!" Ven told his brother cheerfully, knocking him out of his thoughts.

Romano scowled and took the mouse from his brother's hand. "As nice as this story looks..." he clicked on the chapters bar and scanned the chapter names until he found out that looked promising. He changed the page to chapter twelve and began reading.

"What are you doing?" Veneziano gasped, averting his eyes from the page. "That's not the second chapter!"

"I'm skipping ahead so I can read the part where I come in." Romano said in a bored tone. "I want to see if this writer person showed my good side. And maybe we'll find out how this person knows so many things about our lives. Isn't this a bit odd? Is this website full of stuff like this?"

"You can't do that!" Ven argued at him, ignoring all of his questions.

"Yes I can!" Romano picked up the mouse and waved it. "I have this. I believe that's how it works. He who has control of the mouse has control of the screen."

"But...NO!" Veneziano started struggling with his brother for the mouse. "You can't just skip ahead. How am I supposed to know what happens in the story? I'll be lost and confused! We have to go back to the beginning!"

"Veneziano! You have _lived_ this story. I'm sure you can figure out what happens. Besides, we're not in the beginning, you idiot."

"Yes we were! We were, Romano!" He yelled finally yanking the mouse away and switching to the first chapter again. "We were there the whole time!"

"But that's not in the story! No one knows that!" Romano had apparently forgotten that people were trying to sleep just across the hall.

"If it means that much to you we should contact the writer and see if she'll let us tell our side of the story," Veneziano grumbled to himself.

"That's a stupid idea!" Romano shook his head. "But I have one. Why don't we see if we can talk to this guy and make him let us tell our side of the story."

"That's a great idea, Romano!" Veneziano smiled widely.

Romano straightened and walked to the bed, sitting down. "It can be like a bonus. A behind the scenes to show a more intimate side of the story. It'll be our story within Japan's story!"

"Because people don't know we were there even though we were there, so we have to be the one's to tell them we were there! Right?"

"That's exactly right," Romano said, nodding slowly. He walked out of the room, returning a few moments later with his laptop.

"Does that mean we're going to start from the beginning?" Veneziano asked, pulling up a blank document on his computer.

Romano typed in the URL to the website, opening the story and setting it to fill half the screen and then pulled up a word document for the other half. Scanning the first chapter he replied, "Oh no, Ven. We're going to go way back. We're going to start before the beginning."

* * *

><p><strong>AN **

**Well, here it is. You guys asked for it and I'm presenting it! This is the parody of the Lion King one and a half (Or Lion King 3 if you're outside the US). **

**I hope you all enjoyed this opening chapter and will take the time to review. **

**I also hope you all will have a good night and DFTBA. **

**This is the last time you'll see me, from here on out, the Italy brothers are going to be taking over! **


	2. A Visit From the Mentors

Romano crossed his legs on the bed so he could rest his laptop on them. "The Presentation Ceremony," he said aloud as he typed it. "It's so..." He stopped and looked up at his brother. "I don't know. How should we describe it? It's so...Honorable?"

Veneziano thought for a second. "So traditional," he supplied."

"No," Romano shook his head once. "Boring. They're so boring. We've been to so many of them that I can hardly believe that nothing has ever changed. I'm just glad we don't have to sit through the tattooing anymore. Contrary to whatever England may believe, it's practically torture. Why do you think they stopped doing it at the ceremony?"

"I don't know. Maybe they realized it wasn't very fun to watch. I mean... It's not fun to hear infants cry. I hear they don't do it the same way anymore. That it's less painful."

"Lucky them," Romano said flatly. "I can still kind of remember the intense pain from my tattooing..." Romano sighed loudly and looked over and Veneziano who was typing rather quickly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm starting my side of the story," he answered without turning to his brother. We have to start somewhere, Romano. I'm going to start at home not long before we left. Isn't that great?"

"So you're starting in North Italy?"

"Yeah," Veneziano said, finally turning around. "But I'm going to start when Hungary and Austria came to visit... It wasn't very fun," he told his brother, a sad look on his face. "Austria was very unhappy for some reason. I've always been a weak country, but those few weeks they were there really just brought it to my attention."

* * *

><p>Veneziano was in the kitchen making pasta and dancing around with the music loud. He had promised one of his beautiful citizens that he would take her dancing that night. For some reason, the girl he was heading out with was in love with Flamenco dancing. He didn't remember flamenco that well, because he only danced it for a while after Romano left Spain and they became one. He had to do a lot of begging before Romano finally taught him and after his southern half stopped dancing with him he nearly forgot it because he had no one to dance with. He had a lot of brushing up to do before nightfall.<p>

When was the last time he saw Romano anyway? They've barely spoken since they were united. They mostly correspond through letters and their boss liked to deal with Veneziano alone, because he "has a better attitude." Maybe he'll get in contact with his brother next week.

He sighed loudly, who was he kidding? Romano didn't want to talk to him. He danced until the pasta was done and he turned down the music so he could eat in the quiet.

"I'm telling you, Austria! He's not in there! He's missing! We have to find him!" he heard Hungary's voice yelled. How long had they been there? "I don't know who you are but you better open this door!" Hungary threatened, banging on the door. There's no way the music could have been _that_ loud. "Austria! What do you plan to do about this?"

"Italy is his own nation," Veneziano could barely hear through the door. "If he's not home then he isn't home. He may be back later. We can go on a tour or go somewhere else if he isn't here."

Veneziano through open the door, a huge smile on his face and hugged the two nations so hard that they fell to the ground. Hungary laughed loudly at this and hugged him back, but Austria just looked annoyed, standing up quickly and dusting himself off. "Aren't you mature enough to realize you are too old to throw yourself into people's arms, Italy?"

The young nation's smile faded and he picked himself up off the ground. "I... I was just trying to... I haven't seen you in so long and..." his brain fumbled around wildly for the correct words as he tried to keep from crying.

"Austria," Hungary warned under her breath. "Look what you've done."

"I just wanted to give my friends a hug," Veneziano mumbled quietly, looking at the ground.

"Oh, honey," Hungary threw her arms around him. "It's okay. I don't mind if you knocked me over a couple of times." She patted his cheek and giggled quietly. "All of your excitement is so cute." She threw a dark glare over her shoulder. "Be nice, Austria. I'll talk to him." She pulled Veneziano into the house and led him into the kitchen.

"I just wanted to..."

"I know," she told him, fixing him a bowl of pasta. "But maybe Austria is right. You have to be more mature, don't you? As adorable as you are you have to watch out for your country. For example, what plans do you have for tonight?"

"I'm going on a date," Veneziano smiled. "I'm going dancing and...What?" he asked to the sad smile Hungary was giving him.

"You have to have fun, Italy, we all understand that. We get tired of work and just want to go out on dates and..." She stopped and shook her head. "As fellow nations, as friends, we have to look out for each other, and Austria and I are a little worried that..."

"I do work," Veneziano defended, not quite meeting her gaze. "I really do. I just..."

"Look at me," Hungary ordered. "I think that you sometimes forget that there is more to the world than just your home. Their are other countries around that would be happy to take your home from you. If they see you as care-free and not as serious as you should be then you will be vulnerable."

"Have you heard rumors that someone is going to attack me?" Italy asked, frightened by her words.

"There are no rumors," she assured him, "but that's the way the world works. We didn't raise you to get taken over. We raised you so that you could become strong. And you are, but you don't apply it as much as you should."

"She's right, Italy," Austria said stiffly from the doorway. "You're practically advertising yourself as prey."

"But if no one is planning anything against me, then I really don't have to be worried, right?"

"No, Italy," Austria's eyes darkened, scaring the young nation. "You should always be worried. If you stop worrying, you're more likely to be surprised."


	3. A Visit to the Barracks

"Thank you, Austria," Hungary rolled her eyes. "But I think I have it from here, okay?" Austria turned on his heel and left the kitchen.

"I guess I should've had a piano put in, huh?" Veneziano asked his mentor.

"As bad as his attitude may be, he's right. We aren't really supposed to help you after you get out on your own. It's not against the rules, but it's understood that you're meant to survive on your own. We might not be able to come and help you if something happens. You have to..." she stopped and sighed. "Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

From the other room, Austria was speaking loudly into his cell phone. "Just because I leave the country doesn't mean that my whole military has to shut down. This is why there are different ranks and titles. Someone is in charge no matter where I am... No... No... Look. I'm going to be gone for a few more weeks so someone..."

Hungary turned to Veneziano and smiled. "That's what we can do! We'll show Austria around your military! Once he sees how well off it is, his mood will improve."

The younger nation paled noticeably and his mouth went dry. He had a very strong feeling that Austria's mood wasn't going to improve.

* * *

><p>"What is this?" Austria asked through clenched teeth about the empty barracks Veneziano had taken them to tour.<p>

Veneziano laughed nervously. "Well, I just thought... They looked so tired... So I gave them a couple months off. Italians can't get anything if they aren't well rested."

"Why don't we just save everyone else the trouble and take him over ourselves, Hungary!"

"I don't think..."

"Austria, just because his military isn't in there barracks...A rather bad decision, Italy," she said, touching his cheek, "that doesn't mean they won't come to him the second he needs them. I'm sure they all understand that their...vacation...is circumstantial."

"Well, actually..."

"See, Austria? Everything is fine! He'll be safe in case of an emergency. He can take care of himself. However, if you still aren't convinced, I'm sure Italy won't mind going back to your place to live with you a while..."

"I don't think so, Hungary," Austria said.

"Fine! Then it's settled. We'll stay here until you are satisfied. We'll call him military back and train them ourselves if we have to. I'm glad we could all reach an agreement. Come on, Italy. Show me how to reach everyone."

* * *

><p>"Go on, Italy," Hungary urged. "Show us a few things."<p>

"Right! Jumping jacks!" Veneziano yelled to the small group of soldiers in front of him. "Ready, go! 1...2...And done!"

Austria startled slightly from a few meters away. "They can't possibly be done," he called to Hungary.

"I'm sure it's fine," she laughed nervously. Looking at Veneziano she suggested, "Why don't you show us how fast your boys can scale that wall over there?"

"We use that wall to sit against at lunch. So there's no strain on our back," he explained to her. "And sometimes we'll use it for shade during our siestas," he smiled.

"Is there anything else you can show us?"

"Not really," Veneziano admitted, rubbing his neck. "We usually do our jumping jacks and then eat."

"Well... You should..."

"What did he just say," Austria asked as he approached.

Hungary glanced at him long enough to notice his jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes were shut. He seemed to be trying to keep his composure.

"Let's go," he said quietly, walking away from them.

* * *

><p>Veneziano sat on his couch and sighed deeply. Austria and Hungary had disappeared into his meeting room a long time ago. Every now and again he would hear their voices rise and catch a few words slipping through the closed door, but eventually someone would shush the other and they would go back to talking quietly.<p>

Curiosity finally got the best of him after around two hours and he tip toed down the hallway, pressing his ear against the doorway.

"He's going to be attacked and there's nothing we can do about it," Austria was telling Hungary.

"I'm going to be attacked?"

"And who do you suppose is going to attack him?"

"I hear Turkey is getting a little restless," Austria muttered.

"Turkey's going to attack me?" Veneziano stepped away from the door and frantically looked around himself. He's going to have to get away from here. If he leaves he won't get attacked and his home will be safe. The young nation ran to his room and threw some clothes into a suitcase, grabbing money from him table and shoving it into his pockets.

"Where is this information coming from?" Hungary demanded from inside the meeting room after a long silence.

"It's not like Turkey is on his way here now. I'm just saying that he may start moving at any moment."

"Turkey isn't going to come here. He probably just needs a vacation."

"That doesn't make the threat fictional," Austria argued, half heartedly. "All I'm saying is..." He was cut off by a loud thud coming from the front of the house. "See? That can be an attack right now," Austria said as he jumped up.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, music started playing from Veneziano's computer and the nation nearly fell out of his chair. "Romano!" he screamed in a panic.<p>

"What's going on?" Romano asked in a bored tone.

"I just... I don't know where the music is coming from! And the document closed! I'm not sure if I hit save!"

The older Italy rolled his eyes. "Your computer saves automatically every few minutes. You'll be fine. And you probably clicked on an ad by accident. Just hit backspace."

Veneziano clawed at his mouse frantically until the music stopped. "Thanks Romano!" he smiled, sighing happily. "Now can you show me where the document saved?"

"Italy probably just left. Come on, we should make him something to eat so he'll have something when he gets back."


	4. Enter Romano

"Geez, Ven, what took you so long?" Romano complained as Veneziano walked back into the room.

The younger nation smiled brightly and tossed a bottle of Italian soda from their home onto the bed next to his brother. "I was digging for something to drink. Did you know Japan keeps fruit soda in the back of the cupboard? It's a little warm, but I'm sure it'll be good all the same."

Romano grinned as he picked up the drink and took a quick sip. "Ah. Home sweet home." He replaced the cap and set it back on the bed. "Now you were just at the part where you were leaving home..."

"Yeah," Veneziano nodded, sitting back in his computer chair. "So, I was scared and I left. I didn't really know where I was going... I just knew I had to get away so no one would fight me for my home."

* * *

><p>Veneziano was sniveling as he slid his back down a tree. He wiped his eyes on his arms and put his head in his hands. "What am I doing?" he whined. "Where am I supposed to be going?"<p>

"I guess that all depends on what you want to do," someone said, as he heard footsteps approach.

The Italian glanced up and smiled weakly. "Hey England," he muttered, worrying about what England would say about him sitting out here.

"What are you doing out here, Italy?" he asked.

_Why doesn't anyone call me Veneziano? _Italy frowned. _I'm not all of Italy, just a part of it. _"Just thinking," he mumbled.

"Well don't think so hard," the Englishman laughed. "Just follow your heart... Yeah, that's corny... I don't have control over the script though... But seriously... Just follow your heart. You like to have fun, don't you? Just do what you think will be the most fun."

"Fun?" Veneziano thought for a second. He hadn't really considered having fun while he ran away. He was too busy worried about where to go. But if he could have fun...

"I don't mean to bother you, but I had actually sought you out for a reason," England said, suddenly formal. "There's to be a presentation ceremony in a few days."

"Presentation Ceremony?" There were still new nations coming in? Weren't all of the nations..._here_ already? "Where's this new nation?"

"It's an island to the east of Asia. The baby appeared at my place a week ago and I just now assigned the mentors."

Ven nodded. "I'll be there."

"Good," England smiled as he loosened up a bit, his news had been delivered. "Remember; just go where you can have fun. And it's always nice to have a partner in your fun."

_A partner? But who would come with me on a wild run?_ "Oh!" he gasped suddenly. "Maybe my... England?" Italy looked around quickly but England was no where to be seen. "Okay..."

* * *

><p>"Romano!" Veneziano yelled in a sing-song voice as he entered his brother's home. "Romano? Are you here?"<p>

"I need to change my locks," South Italy sighed as he came down the stairs. He leaned against the banister and yawned. "What are you doing here? Is there actually something so important that you needed to come in person? You couldn't just call?"

"You have to run away with me," Veneziano told his brother quickly.

Romano lifted his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"We have to leave!" Veneziano insisted.

South Italy rolled his eyes and turned away from his brother. "Come home, Veneziano," he said as he started to climb the stairs again. "I don't have time for this."

"But our home is in danger. _We're _in danger! We're going to be attacked!"

Romano stopped, one foot hovering over the next stop. "What? Where did you hear that?" he asked, a slight panic hidden in his voice.

"Austria told me. He said that Turkey was going to come after us."

"And you seriously trust this guy?"

"Of course!" North Italy almost gasped. "He's my mentor. He _raised _me!"

The older brother stood completely still for a moment and shook his head. "All right. If you say Turkey is coming after our country then I believe you. What do we do now?" Romano sounded defeated.

"Easy. We leave. He can't take us over if he can't find us. No one can."

"And where do you expect us to go? What do you think we're going to do?"

"Well," Veneziano thought for a moment. "First, we have a presentation ceremony to go to."

Romano's features darkened. "What?" He crossed his arms. "I never get told anything anymore," he grumbled. "Why do we even have to go? If you think our Nationship is in danger, don't you think we should be as far away from the others as possible?"

"Romano! We can get in to trouble if we don't go. We have responsibilities! And after that we do what we do best. We have fun."

"That's what you expect us to do? _Have fun?_"

Veneziano smiled. "Sweet, sweet doing nothing."

* * *

><p><strong>Veneziano's note:<strong>

**Kaoru wants you to know that she has a new poll on her profile! It's important for you to answer it if you like to read parodies and you want to see a new one once we finish this story and give her the account back! **

**It'll be an Emperor's New Groove Parody! Make sure you answer the poll soon, because it's about casting! Thanks for helping! **

**Also! Please review! It'll really make my day!**

**Ciao! **


	5. Baby Japan

"And that's where the other story starts, right?" Romano asked, skimming the start of the first chapter again. "We were only together a couple of days before we went to the presentation ceremony."

Veneziano nodded. "We couldn't go anywhere until after the ceremony."

* * *

><p>The room was almost completely full by the time Veneziano and Romano slipped quietly through the door at the back of the room. The brothers argued quietly about whether they should stay at the back of the room or try to disappear into the middle of the large crowd.<p>

"If we stay at the back," Romano argued, "no one will see us because it's rude to turn away during the ceremony. Plus, if we stay close to the door we can leave as soon as it's over."

"But we might look suspicious if we stay back here. And isn't it easier to disappear into a large crowd anyway?"

"Unless we disappear right next to Turkey," Romano frowned.

"Well, I just don't think..."

"Hello," England said loudly, cutting off Veneziano. "Today all of the nations of the world have gathered together to see this baby presented."

"Looks like we're not going anywhere now," Romano whispered to his brother triumphantly. "It's better this way anyway. We won't really have to listen to England and we can talk quietly..."

"May I present... Japan!"

Veneziano stood on his tip toes, trying to see the baby over the heads of the nations in front of him. "How am I supposed to see what the new nation looks like if I'm too short to see over everyone?" he complained.

"My guess is he has black hair and dark eyes," Romano answered, staring across the room and out a window. A bird was flying back and forth in front of the open window and he was wondering whether or not it would actually fly into the room. It would be an interesting distraction during the ceremony.

He almost didn't hear Veneziano when he asked, "What makes you think that?"

"Can you name one nation that isn't European that doesn't have dark hair and dark eyes? The Nations from Asia tend to have black hair."

"Romano! Don't stereotype!"

"I'm not stereotyping," he yawned. "It's just a fact."

"Isn't Taiwan's hair brown?" North Italy asked. "And..."

"Just forget it," Romano muttered.

"Romano?" Veneziano asked.

"Hmmm?"

"How are you going to bless the baby?"

The Southern Nation cursed under his breath. He hadn't really thought about it. "I'm going to..." he thought frantically for a second and craned his neck to see where England was with the baby. "I think... I... I got it!" Romano smiled at his brother.

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"It's a blessing!" Romano frowned. "Blessings are private!"

Veneziano pouted but dropped the subject, thinking about how he was going to bless the new country.

England finally approached them, smiling softly and placed Japan in Romano's arms.

"I'm not... good with children," Romano whispered to the baby. "But... I am good at being a nation. This... It's something you'll have to be good at, too. And... Sometimes you'll need help and you may not want to ask for it, because maybe you think your time is different... The truth is... The melody may have changed, but the song remains the same... Ask for help when you need it... Accept help when it comes your way." Romano smiled at the baby, but was suddenly aware of how long he had been speaking. He pushed Japan back into England's arms and turned away.

Veneziano smiled widely as he took Japan from England. He decided to go the same way as Romano and offer a proverb to the new nation. "We nations, we have to be strong and being strong is hard sometimes. You should save all your strength until you really need it, because if you use it all up everyday you'll only end up weak. Stay rested. It's better to spend one day as a lion than one hundred as a sheep. I hope you learn to tell the difference." He started to pass the baby back to England before changing his mind and whispering, "He who does nothing, makes no mistakes."

The Englishman walked back to the front of the room and the Italy brothers bowed with everyone else, welcoming the baby before England placed the baby back into Taiwan's arm. The passing over of the baby was symbolic. The baby was finally a nation and would be raised by its mentors. The passing of the baby was also everyone's cue to leave, so the nations filed out of the room quickly, the brother's running from the building before Taiwan was able to cradle the smile infant in her arms.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is it, Romano!" Veneziano said cheerfully. "This is our new home!" The house was small with only one room. There were two small beds pushed against the back wall and a tiny refrigerator by the window near the front door.<p>

"How long do you expect us to live here?" Romano asked.

"Well... It's a little small, but..."

"Veneziano!" Romano said, his voice full of disbelief. "We can't live here forever! We have to stay on the move! Anyone can find us if we stay in one place for too long!" He shook his head. "And we're nations! We can afford a lot more than this small room!"

"Well, we didn't take any of our money and..."

"We can't avoid our government," Romano said, rolling his eyes. "We'll have to stay in contact. We'll stay in contact secretly... if we just stop talking to them, they may decide to give up on us. We'll want to go back eventually... We'll get in touch tomorrow and tell them our location we'll have to remain a secret. Then we'll get some real money. Okay?"

Veneziano was a little surprised at how fast his brother had taken charge of the situation. Maybe their boss was wrong in only wanting to work with him and not with Romano. Romano was a good leader.

"We'll talk about it in the morning, okay?"

"Okay, Romano."

Romano frowned at the small beds, but climbed into one of them anyway. He turned to face the wall and could hear his brother moving around him. As he drifted off, he could feel Veneziano climb into the bed next to him and he rolled his eyes. He'd have to talk to him about that later.


	6. Looking For A Home

Veneziano was in the kitchen of their Chinese home when he heard Romano mumbling to himself as he entered the kitchen.

"Romano!" he yelled when he looked over his shoulder at his older brother. "What's wrong?"

"There are people outside making so much noise that they woke me up," Romano grumbled, walking over to the window.

"She flew behind the tree!" Romano heard someone yell from outside. "She's just hiding! Go look!" Romano rolled his eyes at the backs of the two children outside.

"We have neighbors?" Veneziano smiled happily, appearing next to the window. "We should go say hello!"

The older nation shook his head. "Noisy neighbors," he practically growled. "Of all the places you've could've picked, you pick the house next to a bunch of kids with overactive imaginations."

"Over there! Behind that tree!"

"It looked nice in the picture I saw," Veneziano fretted as he tried to hand Romano a plate of food.

South Italy shook his head and pushed the plate away. "I'm going have a talk with them. They can't just make noise so early in the morning and expect people to be okay with it."

Veneziano glanced up at the clock. It was nearly one in the afternoon. "I don't think that's a..."

"You said you wanted to say hello!" Romano snapped, storming out the front door. The nation was barely a few meters down the path before he stopped dead in his tracks. "Hong Kong," he whispered to himself, watching the nation walking away from the two children. "Ven! What do you think Hong Kong is doing out here?"

"I don't know," the younger nation replied in a worried tone.

"We need to get out of here."

"Russia won't be in his country," Veneziano whispered quietly. "I read that he was out..." He shook his head and pulled his brother back to the house. "We'll go to Russia," he said. "It's large and the odds of running into anyone are very slim," he explained quickly. "We can probably stay there for a longer time than we would be able to in a smaller country. It'll help us get a footing until we can figure out where to go next."

"I don't think we should stay in one place for too long," Romano stated. "No matter how big the country is." The two nations were throwing all of the things they had brought with them into bags and cleaning up the house as best as they could in the short amount of time that they had to live.

"But I think I know the perfect place for us to go!" Veneziano insisted, stopping what he was doing. "We just need to go to Russia until I think I can get us there! It probably won't take that long, but just in case." Seeing the look of incredulity on Romano's face, he looked away and shoved a few more things into his bag.

"Come on, Veneziano. Be a realist. You're never going to get us to this 'perfect place.' We just need to get out of here now and deal with everything else later." He zipped up his bag and threw it over his shoulder. "You ready?"

The younger nation nodded slowly and zipped up his bag. "But how are we ever going to have fun if we never stop to enjoy some of the places we go to?"

"What is this fun you're obsessed with?" Romano demanded. "Aren't we doing this to stay safe? Wasn't that the point of this?"

"But, just because we don't feel safe doesn't mean we can't have a little fun along the way."

South Italy shook his head and walked out of the house, heading north for Russia. "You need to put your head on straight, Ven."

* * *

><p>"But teacher! The baltics! They are attacking them!" Hong Kong yelled to China as they ran past the Italy brothers without noticing them.<p>

Romano laughed nervously. "Maybe we need to head farther north."

* * *

><p>"Um.. Romano?" Veneziano said nervously as they approached a large house. "I'm pretty sure this is Russia's home."<p>

"Veneziano, I'd think I'd know if this was Russia's house, don't you think?"

"I think we just need to pick a place to rest while I figure out how we are going to get to the place I was telling you about."

"Shh," Romano hissed. "This place is perfect!" The older nation approached one of the windows and peered inside, noticing that he was looking into a dark kitchen. "See? It's fully furnished and it doesn't look like anyone is here. We can just..."

Romano was cut off by a shout of "shut up!' from inside the house, followed by manic laughter.

"Um... Can we go now?" Veneziano asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Shh."

"Will you two just stop," someone called in a bored tone as Veneziano pulled his brother away from the house.

* * *

><p>Romano settled happily in a little house they found just over the MongolianChinese border. "See?" he said cheerfully. "I told you I'd find us a great place to rest for a while. Now we can get some sleep in a real bed and have a decent meal."

Veneziano nodded slightly and sat on the floor next to Romano's bed. "Do you think we'll be able to go souvenir shopping?"

"Shopping? Ven, this is a small town, I don't think we'll be able to," Romano stopped suddenly and tilted his head toward the window. He narrowed his eyes. "Is someone screaming?"

North Italy jumped up and threw open the curtains. Outside, there were a couple of people running by. "Maybe their throwing a party!" he smiled happily.

Romano walked over quickly and opened the window so they could clearly hear what was going on. All around them, people seemed to be yelling "bomb" and the news was spreading fast.

"Bomb?" Veneziano said confused. "What bomb?"

As if in reply, Veneziano jumped when he heard a loud explosion nearby.

"We have to go," Romano said, grabbing their not yet unpacked bags. "Hurry!" He stumbled through the unfamiliar house and out the front door, following the running mob of people.

Before long, they reached a river where most people were stopping and trying to catch their breath. To escape the crowd, the brothers waded through the river and ran west, hoping to find someplace else to sleep.


	7. Small Home and Big Changes

"You know, Romano, this place isn't that bad when you think about it," Veneziano smiled, gesturing to the small house they were standing in front of.

The older nation frowned and wondered how his brother had managed to get, yet another, tiny house. They were nations for goodness sake! Shouldn't they be living it up in a...

"And there are two bedrooms!" his brother practically yelled as if that were the greatest thing they could come across, although, admittedly, it probably was. Still, it didn't stop the sneaking suspicion that Roman had telling him Veneziano would probably end up in his bed. "And since we've moved around so much so fast I bet we won't have a problem staying here for a few weeks! We can finally have time to relax and do some sight-seeing!"

"Yeah, yeah," Romano nodded, walking past the northern nation and into the house. Sighing, he dropped his bags by the door and took a look around, hardly believing that a house could look so much smaller on the inside than it did on the outside and considering it didn't look that big to begin with that was really saying something. "Ven, when did you have the time to find this house... And why didn't you ask my opinion on it?"

"I stayed here a few years ago on my way to France's house!" Veneziano smiled. "Luxembourg told me I can stay here whenever I like as long as no one else is here. I guessed that no one _would_ be here because no one has stayed here in years... Except for me... I even have people come by once a week to keep everything clean."

Romano looked at his younger brother over his shoulder. "Ven," he said quietly, "There are a couple of things wrong with that. The first thing is that you don't have to pass through this country to get from your house to France's house."

"I know that," Veneziano practically laughed, "I was coming from Germany's house!"

"I see," Romano continued, "but there's one more thing. If we are hiding from the other Nations, why would you want to stay in a house that another Nation said is practically yours?"

"Oooh! Romano, you have no reason to worry! He won't do that! Luxembourg never comes by this house! Especially if he thinks I'm here. I don't know why, but I think I might get on his nerves."

Romano nodded again, "I see." He looked around the small kitchen and living room, sighing. "Okay then," he picked up his bags again, "show me which room is mine."

* * *

><p>South Italy leaned back in the kitchen chair and put his feet up on the table, sipping on a cup of coffee. He had to admit to himself that this house was growing on him. They'd been here a few months and nothing bad had happened. No one had come to pull them out of their beds in the middle of the night, in fact, it was almost as if no one really cared where they were. Sure, maybe they were leading the brothers into a false sense of security, but at least they where living comfortably.<p>

He looked around and nodded to himself. Yeah, it had seemed small at first but it was better than the first house Veneziano had tried to push them into. Plus, he was right, no one really tried to come stay here. And it stayed clean. He had even told the people that usually came clean the house that they didn't need to come for a few weeks. He wasn't firing them, he even told him he'd continue to pay them and to consider it a small vacation, it was just that the house was so small that he and his brother could take care of the cleaning themselves. Of course, he told them that after the first two weeks and he had to keep calling them to reiterate the fact they didn't need housekeepers right now.

It was nice to live in a small place for once. It felt more home-like than the way-too-big-for-just-him mansion he lived in at home.

"Romano," Veneziano yawned, rubbing his eyes as he walked out of his bedroom. "Is there coffee for me too?"

"Mmm," Romano nodded, as he took another sip and stood up. "I'll get it for you. Just sit down. Anything particular you want for breakfast?" Romano stopped himself and thought for a second. Maybe living in such a small place was having an affect on him. Did he really just offer to make his younger brother breakfast? Veneziano was growing on him.

Apparently the younger nation thought so, too because when Romano looked over at him, his eyes had widened in shock.

Romano laughed nervously for a second and quickly filled a mug with coffee, handing it to his brother. "You know, never mind... We should just go get something to eat while we're out today. You go get dressed, we'll go shopping or something, okay?" he rambled on as he backed away from the kitchen and into his bedroom.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**Hi everybody! It's been a while and for that I am truly, deeply, sorry. But no worries! I plan to go on a writing spree tonight since I don't particularly feel like sleeping and write about 4 more chapters of this. And I want to have it finished by the end of this week. Hopefully that will make up for how long I made you guys wait for this! **

**And then! If everyone is still interested, I'm going to start (and hopefully finish quickly without making everyone wait) The Emperor's New Groove! So if you haven't voted in my poll yet, you should go do that! And don't forget to let me know if you have better ideas! **

**Thank you so much for continuing to read this! **


	8. Finding Japan

"...Fun?" Hungary asked skeptically. "You told him... to have fun..."

England smiled, "Yeah. He seemed a little upset at the time and he was saying that he didn't know where to go, so I told him that where he wanted to go depended on what he wanted to do."

Hungary gave England a strange look and nodded once, "Uh-huh."

"And he's one of those care-free nations so I asked if he wanted to have fun. I mean, if you're going to go somewhere you might as well have fun, especially if you are as young as he is."

"I see..."

"So I told him to follow his heart to find out what he wanted to do."

"Follow his heart... Yes, okay... Great. You realize you told him this almost 4 years ago... Right?"

"Of course, I may be getting old but my memory is still top notch."

"Right. So then you do realize that no one has seen or heard from Italy in say... Almost 4 years."

"Pardon?" England asked, clearly surprise by this piece of news.

"You idiot!" Hungary screamed, finally losing her temper with him and hitting him over the head with a frying pan. "Don't you realize what you've done? Austria was trying to get Italy to be more serious so he could protect himself and you practically gave him permission to run off and leave his country unprotected! Follow your heart? Sure! That's great advice! But when you couple it with 'Go have fun' you are pushing it in the wrong direction!" She stopped for a breath and glared at the Englishman while he picked himself up from the ground and dusted himself off.

He shook his head helplessly. "But I don't understand how that can be true. Wouldn't his government have said something if he were missing? That's a pretty big secret to keep from the rest of the world."

Hungary narrowed her eyes some more. "Maybe that would be true if North Italy and South Italy had not have been unified. As long as they are in contact with one of the brothers they'd think everything was okay."

"Well then, there you go," England nodded with a smile. "Everything is just fine."

"Except Italy is still missing!" Hungary was almost screaming.

"Not all of Italy, just the northern half. If South Italy and the government aren't worried then nothing could possibly go wrong."

"It's been four years!"

"Has it really been that long?" England tilted his head to the side.

"Are you drunk?" Hungary spat out.

"I try to be, yes."

She let out a wordless sound of frustration and stomped away. England really was useless sometimes. "Austria!" she screamed. "Guess what that idiot England did!"

* * *

><p>"Ven," Romano asked as he looked over his brother's shoulder, "why are you putting that in? Is it really important? And is it even true? You weren't there."<p>

"It helps explain some things that happen later on. And I know this happened because sometimes Hungary rants about it when she gets into fights with England," the younger nation explained. "Plus Mr. Austria seems to think it makes for a funny story," Veneziano smiled widely.

The Southern nation nodded with a skeptic look on his face and went back to sitting on the bed. "Then I guess this is as good a time as any to put that in the story... The next part is when we find Japan," he added as he read over the next chapter.

* * *

><p>"Don't you think you've had enough of those?" Romano sneered as he watched his brother bite into what might have been his seventh muffin.<p>

"They're so good, Romano!" Veneziano practically sang. "I can't help it! It's almost as good as that Bolognese we had the other..." he stopped short as he saw a crowd gathering in the middle of the park. "Ooh! Romano! What do you think is going on over there? Do you think it's a show? Do you think there will be music?"

"Shh!" Romano hushed him. "Geez, if you want to know so bad why don't we just go over there?"

"Yay! Let's go!" he yelled, stuffing the rest of his muffin into his mouth and pulling Romano by the hand towards the crowd only to stop a couple feet behind them.

"What's wrong?" Romano questioned him.

"I'm too short to see over them," Veneziano pouted.

Romano rolled his eyes. "Then just go through them."

"But there are too many."

"Hey!" Romano yelled. "Let us through! We want to be able to see!" When no one moved, or even responded, Romano grew angry and stomped forward, elbowing his way through the crowd.

As they neared, Romano barely cared anymore to get through, but Veneziano had taken the lead again and pulled him towards the center of the crowd.

"What is wrong with you people?" Romano finally snapped. " Can't you see we're trying to get through here! Get out! I'm going to go after all of you if you don't get out of here! Right Now!" The crowd around the two Nations grew nervous and dispersed quickly, thinking Romano might be a killer, or at the very least insane.

"Shh!" Veneziano said, gesturing towards a small child sleeping on a bench. "Romano! You're too loud!" Then he laughed at the look of displeasure on Romano's face. "They're gone now! Put on a smile!"

"Shut up," the older nation grumbled as he bent to pick up a stick. Boredly, he poked the child in the side with it. "Oh god, Veneziano!"

"What is it?" North Italy pushed his brother out of the way, causing him to stumble and his anger to return.

Trying to get a hold of himself he asked, "Is that who I think it is?"

Veneziano knelt in front of the child and shook him, trying to wake him up. "Japan?" he asked.


	9. Arguing and Nightmares

"You know, in a weird way, finding Japan and taking on what could have been a very dangerous threat was one of the best things we've ever did," Romano spoke mostly to himself as he laid back on the bed in reminiscence. "We could've been signing ourselves up for a lot of fighting. Someone could've came and..."

"Yeah," Veneziano laughed. "Except the only fighting going on was between me and you because _you_ wanted to get rid of Japan."

Romano sat up and glared at his brother. "I don't remember that," he said, stiffly.

"I do!" the younger nation sang as he began typing rapidly on the keyboard.

* * *

><p>"Just what we need!" Romano yelled as he began to pace furiously. "A runaway! He's too young to be this far away from his mentors! What will China say!" Romano blocked out most of what his brother said next. The only thing reaching his ears was the... <em>cuteness<em> of the way his brother was talking... as if to a baby. He only snapped back to the real world when Veneziano said, "Can we keep him?"

Romano could feel his eyes almost bug out of his head, and as he began to argue with his brother he could already feel himself losing. Veneziano was looking up at him and pouting his best pout. His eyes were round and his lip jutted out. The older nation could feel his defenses falling the longer he stared at his brother. The only thing for him to do was somehow find a good reason to find Japan to stay until he could finally get his brother to send Japan back to Asia.

The idea finally came to him. If they kept Japan long enough they would be able to make friends with him. He would be on _their _side. He could help keep fighting away from them. Even if he was little now, he would grow up to be a strong nation.

"Let's go!" Romano said, walking quickly away from the park.

Veneziano looked down at the little nation and picked him up, surprised at how heavy he was and followed his older brother home.

* * *

><p>"Okay," Veneziano said, laying Japan down on his bed. "I'm going to see if I can find something to cook for him. He's probably hungry. There's no telling how long he's been out there. Especially if he was walking. How long does it take to walk from China to Luxembourg?"<p>

Romano rolled his eyes. "A long time. You go cook. I'll see if I can wake him up."

He wasn't going to kid himself, Veneziano was a little surprised when Romano offered to wake Japan up, but he was more surprised when he ran back into the room to see Japan dripping wet. Still, the most surprising thing about that day, besides Japan apparently not knowing they were nations, was Romano actually _begging _for Japan to stay in the house.

* * *

><p>Romano pushed his brother away from the computer and stared angrily at the screen. "I did not <em>beg<em> for Japan to stay with us! Anyone with half a brain could see that!"

"Hey! This is _my _story Romano!" Veneziano defended himself.

"_Your _story? This is _our _story! And I did not _beg _for Japan to stay. I only asked him to because you wouldn't leave me alone about it."

"Aha! So you admit you put up a fight when it came to Japan staying with us!"

Romano glared at his brother. So this is what that was about? "Fine, I put up a fight! Just get back to the story," he said, throwing himself angrily onto the bed.

* * *

><p>That night, they made plans to go to Denmark and ate pasta until Japan looked almost-healthy again. Still, color may have returned to his face, but a sadness lingered around Japan, a sadness that made Veneziano surprised that it wasn't raining over his head. However there was something far worse than his sadness.<p>

Veneziano stood in front of Japan's closed bedroom door with a look of deep worry on his face.

"Are you listening again? Geez. Just leave him alone," Romano said, clearly exasperated as he walked past.

"He's having nightmares again," North Italy commented. "I can hear him tossing and turning. And he talks aloud every now and again."

"There's nothing you can do about it," his brother said, lowering his voice a bit. "He's obviously been raised to know he should sleep in his own bed." _Unlike some people_, he added silently to himself.

"I should go in there and wake him up."

"People only remember dreams if they wake up in the middle of them. If you let him sleep he won't even remember it."

"Maybe remembering bad dreams is better than not remembering them. If you don't remember them you can be left with a bad feeling and..."

"Ven, I'm going to bed. You can't hover by Japan's door all night. You'll be exhausted in the morning."

Veneziano nodded. "You're right." He walked quickly into his room and returned with a pillow and a blanket.

"Wait," Romano grabbed his arm. "You can't sleep in Japan's bed with him. It'll probably freak him out more."

The younger nation pulled his arm free. "I know. I'm going to sleep on the floor. In case he wakes up, I don't want him to feel alone. So, if he feels the need, I'll be there to comfort him." Opening the door just enough for him to slip through, Veneziano disappeared into Japan's room.

South Italy stood in the hallway for a few moments, wondering why his brother thought he could fix everything with just a few simple tasks.

"Well," he mumbled to himself as he entered his room and climbed into his own bed, "at least that means Veneziano won't be anywhere near my bed when I wake up in the morning."


	10. Teenage Years

Veneziano watched in amusement as Romano tried to rush Japan, or "Kiku", out of his room so they could go to a fair.

"It was your idea to come here and go to this stupid thing so let's go!" Romano yelled for the hundredth time.

Japan laughed as he finally emerged from his room, "Relax, Ano. I just have to put my hair up and we can go!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Ano!"

"Romano, just go wait in the living room. I'll make sure he hurries," Veneziano finally stepped in, not wanting things to get any worse. Romano's mood needed to be at least somewhat decent if they wanted to enjoy the fair today.

"Yeah," Romano muttered. "I'm _sure_ that's going to happen."

As soon as Romano was out of sight, Veneziano turned to look at Japan who was smiling proudly to himself as if he had just won something. "You really should finish getting ready.

Japan shook his head. "I'm almost done. I was actually thinking about keeping my hair down... I prefer it that way, I only put it up because it gets in the way of things."

Veneziano looked at Japan's hair. "Hmm. You should let me cut it tonight. The ends are beginning to look rough."

Japan looked down so he his hair would fall to his sides and he could look at it. "Yeah," he nodded. "I guess you're right. But not too short, okay? If we're staying here for the winter, I'll need the extra protection."

Although it attracted Veneziano's curiosity that Japan was always making excuses to keep his hair long (Did it matter? If he liked it long, he liked it long.) he didn't say anything. He just nodded and watched as Japan seemed to change his mind and put his hair up. Quickly tugging on his sleeve when he saw that the older nation was watching. "Alright, let's go!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ano!" Japan said once they were at the fair. "Do you think we should get some cotton candy? I bet it tastes good."<p>

"You've never had cotton candy before?" North Italy asked before his brother could yell at Japan for calling him Ano.

"You mean _you _have?" Romano asked, surprised.

"It's Fairy Floss! You remember Fairy Floss!"

Romano shook his head. "I would never eat something named Fairy Floss. That sounds like something Engl..." he stopped when Veneziano shot him a look "...it just sounds crazy."

"It delicious. I had some when I went Ireland." He ran up to the cotton candy booth and got two sticks. "You should really try it." He handed one of the sticks to Japan. "No matter what anyone says, Kiku, you are _never _too old for cotton candy. Here, Romano. We can share this one."

* * *

><p>Japan was left alone while the brothers decided to take a ride on something he thought looked like it was going way too fast to be safe. So as he waited for them to come back, he thought it would be cool to look around at the different games the fair had. Mostly, the games looked kind of boring, and when inspected closely, obviously rigged.<p>

There was a basketball toss, some water shooter thing, something that had to do with a very large hammer-looking thing, but none of them really caught his attention. Well, none of them did until he saw a game that had a large stuffed panda as a prize. And the large panda was stuffed inside what looked like a wooden bag. Before he knew what he was really doing he walked over to the booth and pointed at the panda.

"What do I have to do to get that?" he asked hoping his English was well enough for the worker to understand.

"That?" The worker looked at it for a second and shrugged. "I've had that thing hanging there for years. No one has wanted it, but it makes a nice decoration. Hmm... For you," the worker took in Japan and shrugged again, "just knocked down five of that clown's teeth."

At first, Japan thought that sounded painful until he finally looked at the game in from of him. There was a huge clown's head with ten teeth made out of boards. Japan nodded to himself, "How much?"

"Well," the worker rubbed his beard and thought. "Usually the game is 10 dollars, but since you are going after such an unwanted prize, and the look in your eyes is telling me you really want it, 2 dollars. Just don't rat me out to my boss."

"No worries," Japan said, handing over the money as the worker placed 5 small white balls in front of him.

* * *

><p>"Ooooh!" Veneziano said when they stepped off the ride and saw the Panda Basket on Japan's back. "Where'd you get that?"<p>

"From a game over there," Japan smiled widely. "Does it look good?"

Romano lifted an eyebrow at the young nation. _With the long hair and panda on your back, you almost look like China._ When he looked over at his brother he could tell that he was thinking the same thing. Strange how Japan was so intent on leaving China and everyone behind, but he was trying his hardest to look like China.

"You ever wonder if there is more going on then we know about?" Veneziano asked him later that night after Japan had gone to bed.

"All the damn time," Romano answered, "but there isn't a thing we can do about it, is there? Do you really want to force him to tell us anything?"

Veneziano shook his head. His brother was right, but that didn't make him worry any less.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**Okay... It's 7 in the morning and I haven't gone to sleep yet. So good night and good day and I hope you've all enjoyed reading this! I promise the regular updates will continue to come until this is over. **


	11. An Angry Reunion

Japan leaned back in the chair and put his feet up on the table, mimicking what he had always seen Romano do when he seemed to be the most relaxed. There was nothing about the act that relaxed Japan, it usually just made him feel like he would tip over at any second, but this was probably due to the fact that when he first did this action he _did _fall over.

Romano had laughed at him and told him it took talent to be able to do a skill to precise, and being the gullible child that Japan had been then, he believed him. But he had also been headstrong and had been hell-bent on mastering this "skill."

Now he did it to get on Romano's nerves, though it never worked. Japan didn't think Romano really remembered that event had even happened, but he did it to be smug anyway. What else was there to do?

"Deep in thought?" Romano asked, placing a cup of tea in front of the younger nation.

"Not really," he answered. "I was just thinking about skills." Japan took his feet off the table and sat up, grabbing his drink. "Any big plans for today, Ano?"

"Haven't you grown out of that name, yet?" South Italy frowned at him before walking away. "And as usual you'll have to ask my brother about any 'big plans.'"

Japan shook his head and downed his tea in one gulp before following Romano down the hall. "Venzi?" he called, knocking on the brother's door. "He can't really still be asleep, can he?"

"Wouldn't surprise me at all," Romano mumbled. "Maybe he's finally tired himself out completely."

The younger nation couldn't help but laugh, "For the first time in around 15 years? I don't think so." He pushed the door open and poked his head in. "He's not even in here," he laughed again. "Where do you think he's gotten to?"

A huge smile crossed Romano's face. "Why does it matter? He finally went to do something on his own for once! We have a free day! For once I don't have to follow Veneziano all around the world! It's time to relax!" He motioned for Japan to follow him to the living room, where he plopped down on the couch and turned on the television.

Japan idly wondered if Romano didn't think that what they normally did was relaxing at all. It's not like any of them had to work for a living or anything. They mostly went shopping and looking at tourist attractions. Still, it made Japan wonder if the brother's came from a rich family... But if they did, wouldn't they have to be in some sort of contact with that family to keep a steady flow of money? When did they have time to talk to family? Unless they inherited it and all of their family was dead... Which would be incredibly sad... Japan should really ask them about that one day, especially since he's been living with them since...

His train of thought was cut off when the front door banged open and a string of quiet expletives flew out of Romano's mouth. He smiled to himself and took in Veneziano.

"Went for an early morning swim?" Japan asked. Veneziano was standing in the doorway, dripping wet, and wearing swim trunks.

"Of course!" Veneziano smiled. "I've been down at the beach! I've been waiting for you two forever! Are you coming or what?"

"How the hell were we supposed to know you were down at the beach?" Romano spat out, clearly not wanting to go.

"I left you a letter!"

"There was no such letter!"

The argument didn't last very long and before Romano could come up with a decent excuse to not go, the he and Japan were sitting on the sand as Veneziano begged them to play Marco Polo from the water.

* * *

><p>"What do you think would have happened if we hadn't have gone to the beach that day?" Veneziano asked, cutting Romano off from his part of the story.<p>

"It'd be just me, you, and Japan, sitting in some cafe in some off-the-beaten-track country as the rest of the world raged on in war."

"That's a very sad outlook on it," Veneziano frowned.

"However, it's the truth. And Japan wouldn't know who we are. And we'd still pretend to not know who he was."

"We would've eventually told him," the younger nation mused.

"Maybe, if someone came after us. And we had to give him the choice to go or help us fight."

"I don't think so."

Romano shook his head and looked back at the screen. "That way of life could've gone on forever... literally."

"But we didn't count of Greece coming back from his tour so early."

* * *

><p>"Greece?" Japan asked, the look on his face shifting between pain and excitement.<p>

"They seem to know each other," Veneziano observed as they began walking down the beach towards their friend. "You don't think that's..."

"I'll get to the bottom of this," Romano grumbled, picking up speed. "What's going on here?" he yelled.

He barely listened as Japan tried to stumble through an introduction and Greece finally told Japan what they hadn't been able to tell him his whole life. They were nations and they knew he was a nation. He couldn't listen as Greece told them about China's death and Japan's supposed death. None of it really made sense to him. If China was dead then land would've had to been exchanged. They would've been informed of it. Why hadn't they have been? They weren't out of touch with their government, and Veneziano was always reading newspapers. Something wasn't adding up.

"Who's in charge of the land now?" he finally brought himself to say. "Taiwan?"

"Can we be alone for a minute?" Greece asked without answering his question.

Rage soared through Romano. "You _attacked _us, and now you want us to leave you alone with Kiku?"

"Kiku?" Greece's face was a question mark.

Damn that name! He had gotten so used to it. "Nevermind!" he hissed. "We aren't leaving you alone with Japan!"

"I think it's better if you go," Japan said without looking anyone in the eye, cutting off Romano's argument with Greece.

The young nation seemed to be at war with himself, but that fact only made Romano angrier. Everyone was hiding something, weren't they? "Fine," Romano said through clenched teeth, grabbing his brother's hand and pulling him farther down the beach.


	12. Splitting Them Up

Romano was leaning back against a large rock, his hands behind his head, and was staring up at the sky. Veneziano was watching Japan and Greece walk across the beach.

"They're so cute, Romano!" Veneziano said a little too loud.

Romano scoffed. "I don't want to talk about them."

"I'm sorry," Veneziano pouted.

"It's not you! It's _them. Alone._"

"What's wrong with that?" Veneziano asked curiously.

"Can't you see what's happening? And they don't even have a clue!" Romano growled.

"What are you talking about Romano?"

"Sometimes, Veneziano, the partnerships between nations become too strong. They can fall _in love_, Veneziano."

"That sounds wonderful!"

"Well it's not," Romano snapped. "Because if they fall in love, the three of us will become the two of us. And we'll be all alone. Again."

"Come on, Romano. Was it really that bad?"

"Don't you understand? They... They... We raised him! We raised him and taught him everything he knows! But now Greece is here and telling him about being a nation! This is things we should've been able to do, but no! Japan could never bring himself to tell us he was a nation!"

"Well, we could've just told him that we knew, Romano," Veneziano tried to rationalize.

The older nation glared at his brother. "But Japan didn't trust us enough to tell us, Ven. It never crossed his mind that the two people raising him would like to know something like this."

"It was hard for him! Didn't you hear? China is _dead_. We didn't know that! Obviously Japan _did_. That was something he was struggling with. Whatever happened to China is big."

"We can't let them spend time together like this, Ven."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"We've got to do something to make sure they don't become friends. We've got to make them angry at each other somehow. Then Japan won't leave us. He's going to stay here and help us fight if we need to."

North Italy shook his head slowly and sighed. His brother obviously wasn't going to listen to him and he was just going to have to go along with whatever he said until Romano came to his senses and actually listened. "Fine, what do you think we should do?"

* * *

><p>"What are they doing?" Veneziano asked, trying to see over his brother.<p>

"Shh." Romano hissed at him. "They're just sitting on the cliff... And now Greece is... Whoa! He just jumped!"

"What?" the younger nation felt panic rise up through his body. "Greece jumped off the cliff?"

South Italy shook his head, "He's fine. Japan's talking to him. Now hush. I think if we push Japan, we could catch Greece by surprise and..."

"That's dangerous!"

"Kiku... Japan studied martial arts, didn't he? He'll be fine."

"Romano, I don't think that works the way you think it does."

"Shh, now come on." Romano ran forward, but Japan jumped before Romano was able to push him. Going too fast to stop, the nation was just barely able to grab on to the edge of the cliff before he fell into the water below. "Um, Ven," he choked out. "A little help?"

* * *

><p>It took Veneziano almost the entirety of Japan and Greece's swim to pull Romano back to safety. "What do you want to do now?" he asked.<p>

"I don't know. I didn't think we'd have to try more than one thing."

"Aren't you being just a little bit silly, Mano?"

"Don't call me that! Now, all we have to do is think of a new way to get these two angry at each other... Oh! If we steal their clothes..."

"Steal their clothes?"

"Yes! If we steal their clothes, Japan won't feel very comfortable will he? He always makes it a point to make sure he looks different. Though it's only his shirt, he will be very angry at Greece for talking him into cliff diving and then he'll..."

Veneziano yanked Romano by the arm and pulled him into the bushes. "They're coming! Shh!"

"Wait! Grab their clothes we still have time!"

The younger nation put a hand over his brother's mouth and watched as Greece collected all of their things and playfully pushed Japan off the cliff again, running down the path and laughing.

"See? Wasn't that cute, Romano?"

"That was sickening! How can you just let them..."

"Come on!" Veneziano said loudly, "We're going to follow them, aren't we?"

* * *

><p>The Italy brothers looked through the window of Greece's house to find the two young nations sparring.<p>

"Oh good, they're fighting," Romano smiled.

"I don't think it's real fighting," Veneziano told him, pointing through the window as the two fell to the ground and shared what seemed to be a very close moment. "They were just playing, Romano."

A few moments later, Japan and Greece walked out onto the street and began to walk the streets, with the Italies following close behind. Each small moment pulling them away from Japan and pulling Greece closer.

* * *

><p>The Italys were stirred awake by the muffled yelling of Japan and Greece from inside Greece's house.<p>

"You wouldn't understand!" they heard Japan yell.

"Romano!" Veneziano hissed. "They're fighting!"

"Mhmm," Romano replied sleepily. "I can hear them."

"No! Listen!"

"You can't think that way!" Greece was yelling. "This is your _responsibility!_"

"Whoa," Romano jumped to his knees and looked through Greece's window. "They're really fighting, aren't they? Do you know what this means?"

"That we've dragged Japan down a road of laziness and Greece, the country known for laid back activities, actually finds Japan too apathetic?"

"It means that we've split them up!"

"Japan doesn't seem too happy about that," Veneziano observed as Japan ran from Greece's house.

"No, no, he's probably just going back to our place. This is the best thing for us...him...don't you think?"

"I'm not so sure about that."

"We should get back before he does. It'll be a lot to explain if we come in after him."


	13. The Start Of A War

"He's gone?" Romano scoffed. "What do you mean he's gone? That's ridiculous."

"Well, you heard what England said, didn't you? He's gone back to China. I think he's going to fight Russia."

"Greece," Romano said slowly. "England was _really_ drunk just now. I don't think he knows what he's talking about."

"Of course he does!" Greece insisted loudly. "I've been around England a lot these past few years. He gets drunk but the things he says are always true. He wouldn't have come here to tell us that Japan was going back east if it wasn't true!"

"That's ridiculous!" Romano practically yelled. "Why would he go to China?"

"Because he's finally taking responsibility for the land he owns! When he left, Russia took everything, if someone doesn't do something there's going to be a war!" The young nation could feel the exasperation building inside of him.

"Uh huh, and what's stopped a war from happening up until now? Russia has been in control of that land for years. I can't see what's different between then and now."

Greece sighed loudly. "Everyone is getting tired and to the point of exhaustion. At some point, Europe is going to intervene. Look, if you don't want to help, then fine, but my best friend is out there and he could be in danger. I'm going to go after him and offer as much help as I can. I suggest you do the same," he finished before he disappeared.

"Danger!" Romano let out a laugh. "I'm sure he is! He should've thought about the danger before he left without talking to us! If he's going to go on his own then he obviously doesn't need us, does he?"

"Romano, we can't let him go off on his own. He's very young, he probably doesn't know all of..."

"Ven, if he wanted our help he would've asked for it. Stop trying to make excuses for him." Romano threw himself down onto his bed and turned away from his brother.

"We've got to help him! We've been taking care of him for a long time. We can't just let him go out there and get hurt!"

"Ven," Romano sighed without turning back, "we're brothers, we're partners. We have to stick together."

"You were just trying to break two partners up! Can I even believe anything you say?" The younger nation walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Why would you put yourself in the middle of a war, you idiot?" Romano muttered to himself. "Isn't that what we've been running away from this whole time?" He rolled over onto his back and spread his arms away from his body. "Finally, a night without Ven taking up half the bed. Just like before we left our home together. I was okay before I left with him and I'll be fine now that I'm alone again."

Oddly, Romano couldn't get comfortable in the bed. All of a sudden it seemed like there was too much room. He tossed and turned for over an hour before finally giving up and pacing around the room.

"Damn it!" he screamed, running out of room and after his brother.

* * *

><p>"Awe! Romano!" Veneziano exclaimed, reading over his brother's shoulder. "Did you really miss me that much?"<p>

"I just didn't want you to end up selling our country to Russia in some silly surrender," Romano tried to defend himself. "It's my home, too, you know. I couldn't just let you have full control of it..."

Veneziano hugged his brother tightly. "You're such a bad liar!" he laughed, before sitting down and starting to write. "It was a fight that would go down in history," he started. "A thing of legends, of bravery..."

"Please leave out the Pasta Opera thing," Romano growled.

"Awe! But that was my favorite part!"

* * *

><p>"Romano! Run!" Veneziano yelled loudly, pulling his brother by the hand as they ran from the Baltics. They somehow managed to lose the Baltics as they ran through a thickly treed area and ran straight into Austria and Hungary.<p>

"Whoa, honey, get a hold of yourself," Hungary said, helping Veneziano off the ground.

"Hungary? Austria?" Veneziano shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Italy?" Austria could barely hide the shock on his face at the sight of Veneziano wearing a long red cocktail dress.

"Looking for you!" Hungary said. "Someone told us that they had seen you! We had to come right away!"

Austria regained his composure and a look of disapproval came over his face.

"Oh! Right!" Veneziano said, pulling his brother forward. "You guys remember Romano."

"Ven, we don't have time for this, look!" Romano pointed behind the group where Japan and Russia could be seen.

"Oh! Good! They're talking it out! Maybe there won't be any fighting after all."

"Still naive as ever, I see," Austria commented as Japan suddenly fell off the edge of the cliff, catching himself before he could fall.

"Or not," Veneziano mumbled, paling.

"The Baltics are up there protecting Russia," Romano pointed out. "If Japan gets out of this, he's going to have to fight them all."

"What can we do to help?" Hungary asked.

"Well, I have a plan, but it's going to take a lot of work," Veneziano told her. He quickly explained his plan and took Romano by the hand and ran off with him again.

"You know," Austria said, watching them run off. "I blame his dress wearing on you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**I'm just going to go ahead and be completely honest when I say I have absolutely no idea what Austria and Hungary are going to be doing for this next chapter. But there aren't many chapters of this story left so I'm going to try my best to get this done. **


	14. The End

"You know, Ven," Romano said, leaning casually against an abandoned building that stood a few feet away from where the Baltics were watching Japan and Russia's fight. "It's a shame they didn't think ahead, the Baltics, I mean."

Estonia turned his head slightly so he could focus in on the Italies conversation. Of course they had thought ahead, they are in control of their countries, aren't they? What else was there to think about?

"Estonia?" Lithuania looked over concerned, "What are you?"

"Shh, listen."

"I mean, if Russia was planning to take over Europe, wouldn't it make sense to start by taking over the countries closest to him?"

Veneziano thought for a second before responding. "It does," he nodded. "It would make sense to just slowly take over from East to West."

"What are they trying to say?" Latvia asked.

"They really are idiots, aren't they?" Romano guffawed. "You guys may have control over your countries now, but what makes you think Russia will let you keep your countries as he starts to take over Europe?"

"Russia said..."

"Yeah! I'm sure Russia told you a lot of things. You guys are so gullible."

"You've been gone for years!" Latvia yelled. "You don't know anything!"

"I know one thing," Romano smirked. "You _enjoy_ being Russia's little pet, don't you? That's why you refuse to accept the truth."

"Why you little!"

* * *

><p>"Hungary! They're coming!" Veneziano yelled as they ran towards the trees.<p>

"She's going to need a few more minutes," Austria told him. "Can you stall?"

"A few more minutes?" Panic began to fill the young nation's body. He hadn't expected this and didn't really plan anything.

"Unprepared?" Austria scowled.

"Of course not!" he laughed nervously. "Hungary should take all the time she needs."

"Where did they go?" Latvia was saying a little too loud.

Stalking forward through the trees again, Veneziano stepped directly in front of Latvia. "Looking for me?"

"No," Latvia spat as Estonia and Lithuania appeared behind him. "But you'll do."

"Ven, what are you doing?"

"Latvia, you're a lot cuter than I remember," North Italy smiled and took a few steps forward. "And strong, too. I think if we were to work together, I could help you keep your country from Russia."

"Ven!" Romano could barely hide the shock on his face.

The younger Italy reached out and laid a hand on Latvia's shoulder. "We should for a union. We can protect each other."

"You can't just make decisions like that on your own!" his brother was yelling behind him.

"What do you say?"

The shortest Baltic reached up and gripped Veneziano's wrist tightly. "What do you think you're doing," he said through clenched teeth. "What kind of sick joke is this?"

Lithuania laughed loudly behind him. "Maybe you should accept the offer, Latvia! You never know when you'll get another one!"

"Shut up, you moron!"

"If you guys are quite through," Austria said from behind them. "We're all ready on this side."

"What the? What is Austria doing here," Estonia demanded.

"Oh," Veneziano nodded, twisting his arm free from the surprised Latvia. "If you're ready, we're ready. No problem."

From above, Hungary swung in from a vine, screaming loudly. In midair, she cut the vine with a life and flipped to the ground with the detached part in her hand. Surprised, Latvia backed up and grabbed Estonia and Lithuania's arm. Hungary smirked at this and faster than it would seem possible she was able to wrap the vine around the three Baltics, trapping them in place. In the excitement, Hungary yelled something behind her and a large group ran from the trees and tied the Baltics together.

"Keep them like that until the fight is over. Keep close watch over them. I'm sure they'll want to see how the fight turns out, but make sure they watch from a distance," Hungary ordered.

The group formed a circle around the Baltics and took them away quickly.

"You did well," Hungary smiled at Veneziano, nudging Austria in the side.

"It was quick thinking on your part," Austria smiled, "I'm proud of you."

* * *

><p>"I couldn't have done it without you guys," Japan told the Italies as they were standing outside the meeting room.<p>

"You're so grown up, Japan!" Veneziano said happily.

"Oh hush," Romano rolled his eyes and pulled his brother towards Austria and Hungary who were waiting a bit down the hall. "We'll be late going in, but you definitely should be. It's your party after all."

"So, _Veneziano,_" Hungary stressed the name. "What were you thinking when you left? Did you learn anything from your experiences?"

"I think I've learned a lot more than I thought I would," he laughed nervously. "Spending time with your partner nation is important... And now Romano and I are best friends!"

Romano's eyes widened before his face settled into a scowl. "I wouldn't exactly say _that._"

"I would!" he smiled broadly. "Oh," he turned back to his mentors, "Japan has invited us to stay in China's house for as long as we like. I'd really appreciate it if you two could come for a visit sometime."

* * *

><p>"I'm not entirely sure how to finish this, Romano."<p>

"Do you really need to? That sounded like a perfect ending! It leaves things to the imagination!"

"Romano! Shh! You'll wake everyone up!"

"Too late," Hungary said, frowning from the doorway. "Do you guys know what time it is? If you wake up Austria like this he'll probably be..."

"Angry?" Austria almost growled. "You bet. What is with all of this noise?"

"Well, we found this thing online and we thought it was interesting so we..." Veneziano's voice was shaking.

"I see," Austria walked over to the computer and read. "What is this? Is this the end? England giving Japan America?"

"It is," North Italy nodded, "But I can show you the beginning..."

"Do we have to do this now?" Romano complained. "We can show you in the morning. It's late."

"Awe! But this looks cute," Hungary smiled. "Did you guys write this?"

"No," the older Italy frowned, "Someone else wrote that."

"But we wrote this one!"

"Oh? Can we read it?"

"Like I said, it's late and I'd like to get some..."

"If you guys get any louder, you'll wake up America," Japan said, entering the room. "What is this? A party?"

"You should see this, Japan! It's all about you!" Hungary laughed, pulling him towards the computer.

"About me?"

"You guys!" Romano said, exasperated.

"Romano, this isn't your room. If you want to go to sleep you are free to go," Austria rationalized without turning towards him. "But please leave your computer, all of us can't just gather around Veneziano's.

"Fine," South Italy grumbled as he stalked out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **

**That's it! That's the end of the story! And the end of Lion King all together. **

**I hope you enjoyed reading it! **

**Please review and DFTBA **


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